Pasta with Mushrooms
Instructions:
In many parts of Europe, you would make these with
fresh porcini, at least seasonally. Almost needless to say, it
is an amazing dish when made this way, but it’s still a very
good one when made with shiitakes or even ordinary
button mushrooms.
Salt
1 pound shiitakes or other fresh mushrooms
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced shallot or 1 tablespoon minced
garlic
1 pound dried pasta
1/2 cup chicken, beef, or vegetable stock or pasta-cooking water
About 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves, plus more
for garnish
MAKES: 4 servings
TIME: 30 minutes
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Remove the stems from the shiitakes (discard them or use them for stock). If you’re using wild mushrooms, wipe them clean or rinse them quickly if they are very dirty.
- Trim off any hard, tough spots. Cut the mushrooms into small chunks or slices.
- Put 1/3 cup of the oil in a medium to large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the mushrooms and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Raise the heat to mediumhigh and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to brown, at least 10 minutes. Add the shallot, stir, and cook until the mushrooms are tender, another minute or two. Turn off the heat.
- Cook the pasta until tender but not mushy.
- When it is almost done, add the stock to the mushrooms, turn the heat to low, and reheat gently. Drain the pasta, reserving a little of the cooking water. Toss the pasta and the mushrooms together with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil; add a little of the pastacooking water if the dish seems dry. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Stir in the parsley and serve garnished with more parsley.
- Pasta with Fresh and Dried Mushrooms.
- As in any mushroom recipe, you can enhance the taste of ordinary button mushrooms by adding a portion of dried porcini: Soak 1/4 to 1/2 cup dried porcini in hot water to cover for about 10 minutes, or until softened.
- Drain the porcini, squeeze out excess moisture (reserve the soaking liquid), cut into bits, and add in Step 2 along with the fresh mushrooms. In Step 3, use the mushroom-soaking liquid to augment or replace the stock or pasta-cooking water.
- Pasta with Zucchini and Ricotta.
- Set 1 cup of ricotta on the counter to come to room temperature while you prepare the pasta. Substitute diced zucchini for the mushrooms and chopped fresh basil for the parsley; begin the recipe at Step 2. When the pasta is done, toss it with the zucchini, ricotta, and basil until creamy.